Let the World Be Done With Me
by Dr. Phoenix
Summary: One-shot from prince's point of view about what he (the Beast) was thinking when he set Belle free after their dance. Title based on Broadway song "If I Can't Love Her," setting based on 1991 movie, idea requested by MegumiTakani13.


"Do you think anyone in this castle is asleep?" I asked rhetorically as Belle and I walked through the garden under the stars.

"I doubt it." She smiled warmly. "They're either celebrating with too much food and music, or they're just enjoying long talks."

"Do you love me?" Seeing her surprised look, I explained, "I know you must care for me because the spell ended this morning, and your kisses are divine, but do you realize we've never officially confessed our feelings?"

"When you were dying, I told you that I loved you."

I sighed. "I sure picked the wrong time to lose consciousness!" Shaking my head, I added, "I should have told you I loved you before I released you."

Belle rested her head on my shoulder. "I know now. That's all that matters."

While her statement was correct, if we had confessed our love just after the dance, the spell would have broken before the villagers laid siege to the castle. Even now, I could still hear the verse the servants sang in his honor:

No one tries like Gaston

To tell lies like Gaston!

No one falls off a castle and dies like Gaston!

"What were you thinking as you left?" I asked.

"I was just thinking of getting to Papa before the wolves did," Belle replied. "What were you thinking?"

What had I been thinking when she left? I had been thinking what a blessing my death would have been. So deep was my grief in losing my only love that I stopped caring that the spell would never be broken.

Never again would I hear the voice of an angel echoing through the corridors. Never again would I feel her hand lightly resting over my wrist like a sparrow. Never again would I be involved in an hour-long discussion analyzing the lives of fictional characters.

We could have been married. I could have been happy with her until old age carried off both our souls, preferably on the same day so there would be no grief. We might have had children who were as beautiful as their mother.

I could have atoned for what I had done to my servants. We could have become somewhat like an extended family, or at least close friends. Everything would be different, and it would all be because of Belle.

However, this joy was never meant to be. Of course not. Why should a Beast dream of happiness? Part of the curse of the enchantress was surely that even if a young woman and I did love each other, there would always be something to separate us.

Was it truly possible to die of grief? If so, what would happen to the soul of a Beast? Would I remain in the form of a Beast and be punished in the next world, or would the angels see how losing the most beautiful among them was punishment enough?

It didn't matter. Nothing did. Belle was gone, and she would never return. I had loved her too much to try to convince her to love me since I would never be worthy.

The pain in my chest grew, as if every muscle in my body had become a heavy boulder engulfed in a cavern of ice. Could emotional turmoil lead to physical anguish?

A few hours later, my only desire in the world was granted: a relief from such horrendous suffering; I died in Belle's arms. Death brought an end to my pain, and as I lay injured, I was comforted by the beauty of my love's face and her gentle hands on my brow.

Everything was as it should be. Belle would be free to marry a man who deserved her. I wouldn't languish anymore. We were reunited long enough for me to be comforted by her presence. I was already so close to death that I no longer felt the pain of my wounds, so I was able to speak to my love with a clear mind. The accursed rose would die with me. The servants would no longer be forced to tolerate my fits of rage. I could ask for no better ending.

Well…there was one ending that I preferred to dying in Belle's arms. Surviving and becoming human again because Belle realized she loved me was much more to my liking.

"Beast?" Belle blushed. "I mean Adam! You seem quiet."

I cleared my throat. "I'm fine."

"You haven't told me what you were thinking when you let me go."

"I was just hoping you'd come back and visit some time," I answered. "Nothing more."


End file.
